The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
-- Marge Piercy, For the young who want to in The Moon Is Always Female.

Take an ax to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
-- Rumi, Quietness

Mano Singham has written again and again that members of Congress are perfectly capable of coming together in harmony and bipartisan harmony when the issue at hand rises from the needs of their billionaire corporate masters. Our own Rob Portman is more than happy to co-sponsor a bill with the dark side when our Oligarchy […]

Objects in the mirror are closer than they seem. Take that to the bank! What began as a progressive pipe dream—that a rabble-rousing senator from the nation’s second least populous state could wrest the Democratic presidential nomination from one of the most well-known politicians in recent history—is starting to seem plausible. By way of massive […]

C Robert Gibson and Taylor Channing writing in Here’s how much corporations paid US senators to fast-track the TPP bill had this to say about our own junior Senator Rob Portman and the Trans Pacific Partnership: Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who is the former US trade representative, has been one of the loudest proponents […]

Isn’t it wonderful that Cleveland Indians boss Paul Dolan—member of one of our billionaire sports/cable families—has taken on the burden of pushing a tax on cigarettes to finance the arts. Steve Litt, of course, applauds loudly in the Plain Dealer Dolan’s heading a drive for passage of another cigarette tax. Neither Litt nor Dolan apparently […]

[Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown] a leading member of the Senate banking committee is calling on the US government to explain what action it took after receiving a massive cache of leaked data that revealed how the Swiss banking arm of HSBC, the world’s second-largest bank, helped wealthy customers conceal billions of dollars of assets. The […]

While Ohio Republicans think people have a right to know the names of doctors who perform abortions, they don’t want to extend the same transparency to the those who carry out state-sanctioned killings in our names. State Rep. Jim Buchy (R-84) writes: Some pieces of legislation can bring out strong opinions on both sides, not […]

The march toward gay marriage across the U.S. hit a roadblock Thursday when a federal appeals court upheld laws against the practice in four states, creating a split in the legal system that increases the chances the Supreme Court will step in to decide the issue once and for all. The cases decided were from […]

The Plain Dealer—and I use that name despite the division with the Northeast Ohio Media Group (which sounds like some ad consulting firm)—appears to display a dual personality disorder. A web site and a printed paper. Would Macy’s tell Gimbles? Why the division within a newspaper? And does the newspaper understand the confusion it displays? […]

There are a lot of voters—Democrats—out there who want to use Ed FitzGerald as their punching bag this November. [Full disclosure, Roldo most likely count me in that club, for good reasons.] Henry Gomez already has secured that job. FitzGerald has turned out to be a sad candidate. He’s taking an ongoing beating in the […]

As angry bipartisan crowds of Ohio politicians gather to defend “our coal jobs” from the US EPA’s proposed new rules for coal power plants, it’s worth noting just how many jobs we’re talking about. Yes, those are the actual numbers—no zeros have been omitted. (It’s off topic, but note the increase in Ohio coal employment […]

If I were a politician today there are two things I would promote in Cleveland and Ohio. First, a state-wide raise in the minimum wage. If not, a push for city-wide minimum wage hikes. Where are Cleveland politicians? Second, I’d call for a temporary vacation or permanent decrease in the state’s sales tax. If there […]

Fred O’Neill writes: Some have been complaining that Ohio 95th District State Representative Andy Thompson is being treated “unfairly” by his opponents. At least one local writer has labeled such critics as “Marxists and communists.” Thompson is one of several Republican office-holders elected in 2010 on the basis of their promises to create jobs and […]

Some years ago when Tim Hagan challenged Rep. Mary Rose Oakar for her Congressional seat I advised voters, “Hold your nose and vote for Mary Rose.” Mary Rose would accept any support she could get from anywhere. Beside the ditty amused her. She got a good laugh. She won re-election, too. Now I would advise […]

Parents of an autistic child on Thursday sued the Ohio Department of Health and others in federal court, alleging discrimination against Ohio’s autistic children by failing to provide what the lawsuit describes as federally mandated treatment. Gary and Nikki Ruhl, of Mansfield, in northern Ohio, sued in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on behalf of […]

It comes as no surprise to discover that Congressman Bill Johnson might be reluctant to engage in an honest, one-on-one, debate with his Democrat opponent before the November 4 election. Johnson wants to rely instead upon the tried-and-true tea party tactic of staged “town-hall” meetings (where his pals can make him look good by restricting […]

There’s an old saying I can’t track down even with Google. It’s about journalists. It goes something like, “When the battle is over they come down and shoot the wounded.” Not quite right. I knew only one person who might know the direct quote – Terry Sheridan. And he did with all the attribution: Newspaperman […]